Actually, Isaac will be one hundred and eighty years old before he dies (Genesis 35:28), but the Book of Genesis uses only two chapters to tell us about the things he did (Genesis 25 & 26). Genesis 24 is about Abraham sending his servant to find Rebekah, to be Isaac’s wife, but Isaac’s own record consists, basically, of only two chapters in the Book of Genesis. The record covers sixty years of his life, from age forty, or when he married Rebekah to age one hundred, which is when Esau got married! So, given these limits, what do we actually know about him?
The Book of Genesis uses twelve chapters to tell us about Abraham, thirteen, if we include chapter 24, but one of those chapters is all about Lot leaving Sodom (chapter 19). As for Jacob, we learn about him in ten chapters (chapter 27 to 37), but one of those chapters is about Esau’s descendants (chapter 36). The remainder of the Book of Genesis tells us about Joseph and how Israel ended up in Egypt, from chapter 37 to 50 (thirteen chapters), but one of them is about Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar (chapter 38). So, basically, eleven chapters are dedicated to Abraham, nine to Jacob, thirteen to Joseph, one to Lot, one to Esau, one to Abraham’s servant, one to Judah, Jacob’s son, and two chapters (Genesis 25 & 26) are dedicated to Isaac, only one more than Abraham’s unnamed servant! Why is that?
Isaac was the longest lived of the Patriarchs, Abraham died at the age of 175 years (Genesis 25:7), Jacob at 147 years (Genesis 47:28), and Isaac was 180 years old at his death (Genesis 35:28). So, although he is the longest lived of the Patriarchs, the book uses the fewest words to tell us how he lived! If we should number Joseph among the Patriarchs, he is the shortest lived, yet more is said about him than Abraham (13 chapters v/s 11). However, the accumulation of raw data doesn’t always tell us the whole story. Does it?
Basically, the Book of Genesis contains the physical evidence, vis-à-vis records handed down by men about things of importance that occurred during the days when little else was recorded about anyone. Nevertheless, although the historical accounts are valuable to us, it isn’t the physical accounts that are of greatest interest. Rather, our interests use the physical data to show us the spiritual meaning behind what the physical records tell us.
Isaac was a spiritual man. He spent his evenings in meditation and prayer (Genesis 24:63). Although he was probably a fully grown man, when Abraham raised his knife to slay him (Genesis 22:10; cp. 23:1),[1] which means he was much stronger than his aged father, Isaac submitted to his father’s will, allowing the event to take place as it has come down to us. Why would he do that? His submission seems to imply prior knowledge concerning why his father was ready to sacrifice him to the Lord. The text implies that Abraham told Isaac what he intended to do, after they had left the servants behind (Genesis 22:5), and while the two continued walking to the mount. Isaac’s prior knowledge is implied in the fact that he voiced his curiosity, while he and his father walked to the mount (Genesis 22:7), but was silent, while Abraham prepared the wood and bound Isaac’s hands and feet. Isaac was silent, even when Abraham raised his knife to slay him (Genesis 22:9-10). Therefore, Isaac’s submission to his father’s will, and thus to the will of God, speaks volumes.
All of Isaac’s works afterward concerned his walking in his father’s steps, digging out the wells his father dug first (Genesis 26:18), defending himself (Genesis 26:7), as his father defended himself (Genesis 12:11-13; 20:1-2), making treaties with the people of the land that his father (Genesis 26:27-31), Abraham, had also done (Genesis 21:22-24). Isaac’s walk was a walk of faith, resting in the promises of God (Genesis 26:1-6), which the Lord had already made with Abraham, Isaac’s father.
However, when we come to Esau and his double marriage to Hittite women of the land (Judith and Bashemath), we discover a stark contrast between him and his father, Isaac. Both married at the age of forty (Genesis 26:34; cp. 25:20), but the similarity ends there. Abraham arraigned that Isaac would marry a woman who was not a Canaanite, who were judged by God and destined to be removed from the land. However, Esau seems to be completely destitute of understanding spiritual matters. In fact, he didn’t even discuss his marital plans with either of his parents, and he decided for himself whom he should marry.[2] Thus, Esau’s wives were nothing more than sources of grief to Isaac and Rebekah, both of whom were very cognizant of the spiritual implications of marrying the people of the land (Genesis 26:35; cp. 24:3).
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[1] If Sarah was 127 years old when she died, Isaac, who was born when Sarah was 90 years old (Genesis 17:1, 17; 21:5), would have been 37 years old at her death. Sarah’s death is place just after the event on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:1-13, which implies Isaac was an adult when that event occurred.
[2] Compare this with Adam’s actions, when he decided that he would decide for himself what was good and not good for himself and his wife (Genesis 3).
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